


The Girl Next Door

by Polyfunctional



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst and Romance, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-09-30 09:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17221136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polyfunctional/pseuds/Polyfunctional
Summary: Peridot makes the mistake of accidentally trapping herself outside in the middle of a thunderstorm -- her worst nightmare. Out of desperation, she seeks help from her neighbor, Lapis. Something about her neighbor is mysterious and intriguing and as she learns more about her, she discovers that Lapis might be living a nightmare of her own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> lmao here we go again fellas, finally after over 3 years. hope this goes better this time!

The blaring sound of an alarm clock shot through the quiet room. Groaning and the rustling of blankets could be heard before a hand reached out to slam it off. Tired and slightly irritated, the teen willed herself to sit up in her bed and run a hand through her light blonde hair. She groggily fumbled with her glasses and slid them onto to her face to look at the illuminated screen of her clock.

She jolted up at the sight of the time and threw the blankets from her in alarm. She was supposed to be up almost an hour ago! For anyone else getting up at this hour for school would be normal, but unfortunately she had to walk. The buses were completely useless in her area and she couldn't get a reliable ride, so this was her only option. It only worked if she didn't sleep through over half her alarms, though.

She flew from her bed and stumbled into the hallway. She nearly tripped over her own feet trying to get up the stairs and into the bathroom. She clicked on the light switch and immediately cringed and cursed at the light her eyes hadn't adjusted to yet.

"Come on, Peridot, wake up." she urged herself as she turned the water on to wash her face. No matter what the consequences were, she never seemed to get it through her head that staying up to play video games is a bad idea. And last night was no exception since she was up until almost two a.m. working toward defeating as many levels as she could.

In her defense, it was a highly addictive game and she only needed to beat one more level before she would be able to move up a class. But maybe if she had gone to sleep at a decent hour she wouldn't have slept in for so long! Peridot grimaced and shook her head at her reflection, then reached for her toothbrush.

Once she was finished, she rushed out of the bathroom. On the way to the stairs, she passed by her mom's bedroom and paused for just a moment to peek into it. Her mother wasn't there, which meant she had already gone to work, leaving Peridot alone in the house. It was normal to see it empty like this.

The main reason Peridot couldn't get rides to school was because her mom insisted she was too old to rely on her for things like that anymore. She could count on one hand the amount of times her mom was around in the mornings, and there were few times that she was even home before Peridot came back from school. She was used to it by now and understood that her mom's job took too much of her time, but she wouldn't mind if she was around more often.

She frowned and turned to bolt down the stairs to her room where she began to get ready for school.

She settled on a simple but comfortable outfit and attempted to fix her disastrous hair. There was no time for breakfast, which was fine with her because she ended up skipping it most mornings anyway. She hastily threw on a sweater and shoes, grabbed her backpack and phone, and headed for the front door.

She paused and stared at her hand clutching the knob. Although she was aware that she had very little time to just stand around, there was something nagging at the back of her mind. It felt like she was forgetting something. She ran through her head all the things she had done or could have done, but nothing seemed to be missing.

Whatever it was probably wasn't very important anyway. Without a second thought, she burst out of the house and into the chilly morning air to start racing all the way to school.

By the time Peridot got there, she felt like her lungs were going to explode from her chest and her legs were going to give out at any moment. She was surprised but extremely thankful to find that she actually made it just in time. Wheezing and sputtering like an old, rundown engine, she stopped right inside the main doors of the building to take a moment to catch her breath.

Her breathing had nearly returned to normal before it was suddenly squeezed right back out of her by a pair of strong arms. The startling action made her cry out as she was lifted into the air and carelessly swung around.

"You're late, nerd!" she heard through the wind rushing past her ears. She immediately recognized the voice and her shock was replaced with anger.

"Put me down, Jasper!" she hissed through clenched teeth as she thrashed around in her arms. She was not in the mood for this! Jasper complied and dropped her mid-air. Peridot staggered and caught her footing to whip around and glare up at the girl that, for some reason, she still called her best friend.

Admittedly, she probably didn't look very intimidating compared to Jasper who was twice her size and had more strength in one arm than Peridot had in her entire body. Much to her irritation, Jasper simply laughed and ran a hand through her chestnut brown hair.

"Calm down, I was just messing with you. I wouldn't intentionally hurt you."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Peridot asked as she straightened out her clothes and hair.

"More or less." Jasper shrugged. "How come you're late?"

At that Peridot flushed and looked away, pretending to be more interested in her jeans than the question. "Over slept." she confessed.

"Really?" Jasper said. "And that was probably because you stayed up playing your stupid games again, didn't you?"

"They're not stupid!" Peridot shouted, which was a bad idea because that basically confirmed Jasper's suspicions. "But- I was just- I-I..." Peridot stammered in a vain attempt to defend herself.

Jasper just folded her arms and gave her that knowing smirk she hated. Peridot heard the bell ring and groaned. There was no chance of even trying to explain herself. It was unlikely Jasper would believe her anyway. "I gotta get to class." she grumbled in resignation.

"See you later!" Jasper called to her with a laugh and a shake of her head as they parted ways. Peridot sighed with relief. It could have been worse, she thought. She just hoped the worst of the day was over.

However, toward the end of the day she noticed that something wasn't right. Clouds slowly began to form and the sun was fighting to keep itself shining through them. It had gradually lost the fight as more and more clouds blew in over time.

Peridot felt a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach that kept drawing her attention to the windows. It was distracting her from her work and she got in trouble for it, but she couldn't help checking. She watched them apprehensively and silently tried willing them to go away because she knew what would happen if they didn't. The very thought of it made her stomach turn.

It went on like that until there were only a few more minutes left of her last period, and what Peridot had been dreading seemed like it was inevitable.

The clouds were thick and black and covering the entire sky, which meant there was going to be a storm. It could start at any moment, and Peridot knew there was a good chance it could happen before she made it home. She considered asking Jasper for a ride, but knew that wouldn't happen with her wrestling practice after school. And there was no way she would stick around the school for hours while she waited for a ride. She paled with the realization that she would most likely get caught in a thunderstorm.

"Peridot, are you alright?"

She jumped at the sudden voice beside her and turned to see one of her friends, Pearl, staring at her with a concerned look. Peridot had been listening to her drone on about something for a while, but she hadn't really heard anything until now. Peridot avoided her eyes and cleared her voice.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" she lied through a fake smile. She didn't want to tell Pearl what was really on her mind. No one knew about her fear of thunder, not even Jasper, her best friend since middle school. It was such an irrational and childish fear that she didn't want to mention it to anyone, especially her mother who chastised her about it as a kid and believed she had outgrown it. Nobody knew for years and she wasn't about to let any one know now.

She couldn't tell if Pearl believed her or not, but if she didn't then she decided not to press it. "Alright." Pearl said cautiously. "Then you're okay with it?"

The bell decided to ring at that moment which made Peridot jump from her seat and the chair scraped loudly on the floor. It drew some attention to her but Peridot didn't notice. The only thing on her mind was that she needed to get out of here so she could get home as soon as possible.

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" she said dismissively as she hastily shoved her notebook into her backpack. She had no idea what Pearl had been talking about before, but she was sure whatever it was could be handled later. She was already halfway out the classroom door when she heard Pearl call after her, but she ignored it.

When she stepped out of the building a harsh gust of wind hit her face and she shivered as she pulled her hood over her head. It was the like the wind was trying to push her back as a warning for what was to come.

She pushed through and hurried past a group of people leaving the school campus. As she went by, she noticed a few of them with umbrellas. The sight sent a chill down her spine and she sped up her pace to a jog.

Just like that morning, Peridot ended up running like her life depended on it. And to her, it felt like it was.

She kept peeking up at the charcoal gray clouds for any sign of rain, but it didn't start raining as soon as she thought. She was lucky it only began sprinkling as she turned the corner onto her street. The sight of her house gave her a boost of energy to sprint the last block home.

Her boots pounded up the porch stairs to her front door in her excitement. She laughed with relief as she reached into her pocket for her keys.

Her smile wavered when she felt nothing, and she reached into her other one. Again there was nothing. She patted her other pockets, and her heart sank when she didn't feel her keys anywhere.

She swung her backpack off her shoulders and began rummaging through it. When she saw no sign of them, she dumped the contents out and frantically rifled through them. She had to have her keys, she had to! She even shook out her folders and notebooks on the very slim chance they were hiding between the papers. But still nothing.

"They have to be somewhere!" she cried as she threw everything back into her bag. How could she forget her keys? She couldn't be stuck outside like this! There wasn't even a spare key anywhere she could use because her key was the spare key.

She scrambled up and tried turning the knob, but it was locked. Of course she would remember to lock the door and forget her keys! Out of desperation, she ran to her bedroom window.

By now, the sprinkling turned into a light drizzle and her clothes were slowly getting soaked. She ignored it and got a good grip on the window and tried to tug it open. She pulled so hard she fell to the ground and got her jeans and sweater muddy. Even with her effort it refused to budge.

She let out a growl of frustration and jumped up to press her face against the window to peer inside. Her eyes flicked around until they landed on her desk. Right there, out in the open where she always left them, were her keys. She narrowed her eyes and glared daggers at them. It was like they were taunting her for leaving them behind.

She wrenched herself from the window and hurried around the house, trying to open all the windows she could reach and the back door. She also tried the garage door, but of course it was locked too.

She went back to the front porch and fished her phone from her pocket to call her mom in a last ditch effort. She pushed her damp hair from her forehead as she listened anxiously to the ringing on the other end of the line. She wasn't surprised when it went to voicemail, but she still felt a small pang of disappointment that her mom hadn't answered.

It would have been useless anyway. Even if her mom had answered, what would she be able to do? On the very, very slim chance she cared enough to leave work early and let her in, Peridot would still be stuck outside until she showed up. There was no way her mom would be able to get home before the thunder started.

Peridot slumped down to sit on one of the steps and hung her head in defeat.

After all that, Peridot was in the exact same position she was before. There were no more options, unless she felt like breaking into the house. It was very tempting, and she even looked through her backpack for a paper clip, but she couldn't do that. The sky was so dark she could barely see and the rain was pounding so hard it stung. She was stuck.

Without realizing it, she pushed her glasses up and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. She sat with her head in her hands for a few moments. Through her fingers she happened to catch something in the corner of her eye. She looked up to see pale yellow light shining through her neighbor's window. She stared at it before shaking her head to chase away the ridiculous idea that popped into her head.

She couldn't just waltz over there expecting help! She didn't know who they were or what they were like. It would be weird if she showed up out of nowhere after never talking to them.

But... there was still the chance of someone being there who would be nice enough to help her. It would be a lot better than sitting out in the rain. It would only be for a little while and she would try to stay out of their way as much as possible. She bit her lip and finally decided to go over there. It wouldn't hurt to at least ask.

She stood and slowly started toward her neighbor's house. She walked faster when she heard the faint sound of thunder rolling in the distance.

She sloshed around in mud more than she would have liked. Peridot could barely see the ground in front of her, but she could finally make out the stone walkway lined with shrubs that led to the brick stairs of a covered deck. She walked up the stairs and hesitated at the door before she forced herself to knock.

The door opened to reveal a girl standing there. She was a few inches taller than Peridot with tan skin, deep blue eyes and equally blue short hair. She blinked her listless eyes, then slumped against the door frame and gave Peridot a bored look. "Yeah?"

Peridot stood there staring dumbly. She was suddenly aware of how much of a disaster she probably looked with her soaked, dirty clothes and messy hair. She fidgeted and stammered out a response. "I... Um, hi. I live next door in that house over there. See, I woke up late this morning so I forgot my keys, which I normally don't do, but now the door is locked and I can't get in..." She laughed nervously when the girl continued to stare blankly at her. Peridot decided to try a more direct approach. "W-Would it be alright if I stayed here for a while?"

The girl frowned and shook her head. "Nope, sorry. I can't help you." She started to close the door.

Peridot gasped and rushed forward. "Wait!" Her outburst surprised herself as much as the other girl and made them both pause. "Please! It's raining and I really don't want to wait outside! It will only be until my mom gets back!"

It was silent for a moment before the girl looked over her shoulder into the house and back to Peridot. "How long until she gets back?"

"Not very long!" she replied immediately. "I promise!"

The girl sighed in exasperation and pulled the door open wider. "Fine. Leave your shoes outside."

Peridot quickly bent down to untie her boots and kick them just outside the door.

"And don't sit on anything." the girl added firmly, then disappeared into the house. Her harsh tone made Peridot take extra care when she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She figured she better be on her best behavior so she wouldn't get kicked out for whatever reason.

She technically already had one strike against her since she had lied about her mom coming home soon. She honestly didn't know how long it would take for her to get home. There were days when she didn't get home until after midnight. When it came to her job, her mom was ambitious and hard-working, but when it came to domestic abilities she was a little unreliable. Now all Peridot had was to hope today was one of the days she came back at a decent hour.

Peridot took a moment to take in her surroundings. She stood in a large living room with two couches set against adjoining walls and a coffee table in the middle. There was also a leather reclining chair, and a TV set upon an oak entertainment center against a wall that had an arched doorway to the right of it. Her eye caught an easel with an unfinished painting next to one of the lamps. She squinted her eyes and tried to figure out what the painting was.

"Use this."

Peridot turned just in time to catch a towel that was flung careless at her before it hit her in the face. She stood there dumbly and watched as the girl took her seat on the edge of the leather chair. "So, why did you come here?" she asked.

"I... I told you. It was because I locked myself out." Peridot said. Why did this suddenly feel like an interrogation?

"Yeah, but why my house? We've never even talked before."

"I saw your lights on." Peridot admitted. "Not that I was spying on you or anything! I just happened to see them."

"Right." With a scowl, the girl leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. "I was sleeping, you know."

Peridot gulped. "O-Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

The girl only rolled her eyes and turned her head away. There was an awkward silence and things got extremely tense. Peridot fiddled with the towel before cautiously using it to wipe her face. Maybe it was a bad idea to come here after all. Peridot really hadn't meant to disturb her.

The silence seemed to drag on forever.

Peridot stole a glance at the other. She wondered why she had never seen her before. Aside from the fact that they were neighbors, it looked like they were about the same age. Peridot thought she would have seen her around school or at the boardwalk. They lived in a small town and she had bright blue hair, how hard could she be to spot? But Peridot couldn't think of a single time she had seen her anywhere. Either Peridot was unobservant (which was unlikely) or this girl was a real hermit.

Peridot was tempted to ask about it, but she held herself back. Trying to pry into her life was probably the last thing she wanted to do after bothering her.

But she really hated the tension and figured she should say something. She decided to speak up about something else. "Uh, I'm Peridot."

That at least got the girl's attention. She snapped her eyes toward Peridot and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"My name is Peridot." she said more clearly. The two stared at each other before the girl smirked and let out a small scoff that dissolved into laughter.

"Peridot? You mean like the gemstone?" she asked.

"Yes?" Peridot said hesitantly. She didn't know how that was funny, but being laughed at was a lot better than being ignored she supposed. Peridot laughed nervously and decided to go along with it. "Would it be worse if I told you my last name is Diamond?"

The girl broke into a grin and laughed harder. Peridot was amused to hear her let out a little snort. "That is pretty funny. My name isn't much better, I guess. It's Lapis. Middle name Lazuli."

"Ha! I get it! Like the rock!" Peridot laughed loudly, but it became awkward when she realized she was the only one. She cleared her throat and tried to brush it off. "So, uh, Lapis... do you live here alone?"

Lapis gave her a weird look, but after a second she shook her head. "No, I live with my dad. He's... out right now."

"Oh, I understand. My mom is gone a lot too, usually with work which is where she is right now and why I can't get into the house." Peridot over-explained.

"Isn't your family rich or something?" Lapis asked.

Peridot furrowed her brow at the question. "Yeah, I guess." Although they had quite a bit of wealth, she had never felt like she was 'rich.' Just... better off than most people. Sure she had a pretty big allowance and always had all the latest technology, but she wasn't spoiled or anything. Besides, what did that have to do with anything? "What makes you say that?"

"I live right next to you, I've seen your house." Lapis said flatly. "But in that case, why didn't any of your maids or whatever open the door for you?"

"We don't have maids." Peridot huffed. Lapis looked like she didn't believe her. "I mean, my mom has a personal assistant slash secretary person that comes over sometimes to do stuff for her, but she's hardly a maid. Besides, I'm usually the only one home and I can clean up after myself."

"Oh." Lapis looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm usually left alone to clean the house too."

That wasn't really what Peridot meant, but before she could clarify there was a sudden clap of thunder. It seemed to rattle the whole house and caused her to jump at the sound and a small squeak escaped past her lips.

She hadn't meant to do that! Her reaction seemed to startle Lapis who stared at her in surprise. Peridot felt like covering her face and sinking into the floor but she was so stunned she simply stared back.

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked slowly.

"Yes!" Peridot said too quickly. "Yeah! I was just... I was just..." She struggled to find an excuse, because there really wasn't an excuse for that, but she was saved by her phone ringing. She grabbed it so fast she nearly dropped it and saw that the caller was her mom.

She forgot she had called her. With a shaky hand she answered it. "Hello?"

"Peridot? Is there a reason you called me while I was in a very important meeting?"

"Oh, Mother, I-I locked my keys in the house and I can't get in."

"That's your reason?"

"Yes..."

"You know better than to bother me unless it's an emergency."

"But I-"

"It doesn't matter, it's already been done. You're just lucky my phone was on silent. If you're not in the house then where are you?"

"At the neighbor's house."

There was an annoyed sigh that Peridot heard often. "I'll be pulling into the driveway shortly. I expect to see you waiting for me there." She hung up without another word.

Peridot stared at her phone for a moment. She sighed and her eyes slid up to meet Lapis's. Peridot had felt Lapis's eyes on her the whole time and it had made her even more uncomfortable. She shifted her eyes away almost guiltily. "That was my mom." she explained with a nervous smile. "She's about to be home so I can leave now."

"Oh." Lapis said standing with her. "Alright."

"Um, thanks again for letting me stay here. And I'm sorry if I bothered you."

Lapis shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. It's just..." She bit her lip as if she was trying to hold something back. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. "You should just go."

Peridot nodded and handed back the towel. She felt like she should say more but she was drawing a blank. "Well... Bye."

Without waiting for Lapis's response, she quickly turned and opened the door. She grabbed her boots but she didn't bother to put them on.

Just as she stepped off the last step, she saw the headlights of her mom's car turning into their driveway. She knew she would get chewed out for ruining her socks, but she didn't care. She just wanted to finally get home.


	2. Chapter 2

Peridot winced as a drop of cold water hit her forehead. She wiped it away with her palm as she sat up and looked at the shower head.

Another drop of water fell onto her blanket and she sighed. She reached over the rim of the bathtub and paused the music playing on her tablet. She thought she had fixed that leak earlier, but it seemed like it was back.

Peridot had been laying in the nest she made in the bathtub pretty much the whole weekend. After her mom came home and let her inside (and after she got a long lecture about responsibility), she immediately went and hid from the storm in the bathroom. Something about the placement of the downstairs bathroom seemed to muffle all outside noises. With some music playing, it was the perfect place for escaping the loud thunder.

Well, maybe not perfect, Peridot thought as she piled her blanket in her arms to prevent any more water from getting on it. There was that obnoxious leak and no matter how much she tightened the bit attaching the shower head to the pipe, it would still drip.

Her tablet made a sad beeping sound to indicate it had low battery and was shutting itself off. Her phone had died the night before but she hadn't risked leaving the bathroom for her charger. She wondered if it would be safe enough now and crawled out of the tub to go check.

She peeked her head out of the door and listened for anything that might indicate there was still thunder. The house was quiet- there wasn't even the sound of rain. She took that as a good sign and decided now was probably a good time to stop cowering in the bathroom. She grabbed her bedding and tablet and headed out.

Before she made it to her room, her stomach grumbled and made her stop. She suddenly remembered that she hadn't eaten the entire time she was holed up in the bathroom. Peridot hadn't left the bathroom for anything. And now that she noticed, food was the only thing on her mind. She dropped all her stuff on the couch in the living room and went to the kitchen.

She felt like she could eat an entire pizza by herself. She ran through her head all the things she wanted to eat and decided a grilled cheese sandwich sounded the best. She pulled some bread from the pantry and went to the fridge for some butter and cheese, but the light didn't come on when she opened the door.

That's weird, she thought. She pressed on the little light thingy a few times, but it did nothing. She tried to turn on the kitchen light so she could get a better look, but that didn't turn on either.

She furrowed her brow in confusion and looked around the kitchen. None of the lights were on, not even the ones on the appliances.

"Nooo." she groaned. She went to the laundry room and tried that light, but it wouldn't turn on. It was the same for the hallway and living room lights. The storm must have caused a blackout, she concluded.

Her stomach growled at her again. Without power she wouldn't be able to make her sandwich. But she had been looking forward to that sandwich and now everything else sounded boring. Especially since her options were much more limited without electricity. She decided to ignore her stomach pains and wait for the power to come back on to eat.

Instead, she took her stuff into her room and turned on her laptop. Luckily that was charged, but not very much. It would probably die within half an hour, which was not long enough to do anything worthwhile, especially if there was no internet. She grabbed the cord for her charger and decided to use the last bit of her laptop's energy to charge her phone.

Peridot flopped on her bed and wondered what she would do in the meantime. She couldn't eat, couldn't watch TV or play video games, and she would have to strain her eyes to read without proper lighting. Life was truly boring without power.

She gazed around her darkened room until her eyes went to her window. She sat up and looked at Lapis's house, which was also dark. Did her power go out too? Should she go over there and check?

She wondered if that was the best idea. Lapis seemed pretty irritated with her when she showed up before. But Lapis did warm up to her a little bit before she left. And Peridot had to admit she was a little intrigued with Lapis and wanted to know more about her. Peridot had nothing to do for a while so she sat up and put on her shoes.

Peridot found herself standing on Lapis's porch again and held her breath as she knocked on the door. She waited a moment and heard nothing.

"Lapis? Hey, Lapis!" she called as she knocked again. Maybe no one was there. Peridot was about to turn away and go home when the door was jerked open by Lapis.

"What?!" Lapis yelled, causing Peridot to jump in surprise. The sight of Lapis was equally shocking. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes had dark circles around them, and she looked like she was in her pajamas. More importantly, she looked pissed. "You again? What do you want now?"

Peridot felt like turning and getting the hell out of there, but Lapis's piercing gaze froze her in place. She did not expect this!

"Hello?" Lapis shouted to get her attention. What did she come over here for again?

"Is your refrigerator running?" she blurted. They stared at each other for a full ten seconds before Lapis started to slam the door in Peridot's face.

"Waitwaitwait, that's not what I meant!" Peridot said pushing against the door when her brain finally caught up with her. "I'm just trying to see if your power is on! Mine isn't!"

Lapis stopped trying to close the door and looked at Peridot in confusion. She glanced around her house, then flipped on the light switch by the door and checked to see if any lights would turn on. They didn't. "Huh. I guess it's out."

She glared at Peridot again, but with less anger. "What, are you an electrician?" she asked as she pulled away from the door and walked off.

Lapis left the door open so Peridot took that as a sign she was allowed to come in. She remembered what Lapis had said before about her shoes, and left them just outside the door before she walked in.

"Uhh, no. I wanted to see if it was just my house or not." she called toward wherever Lapis had gone. She didn't get any response. Unsure with what to do with herself, she sat on the couch and looked around the room. The easel was gone but other than that, everything looked the same.

Lapis came back into the room wearing a black turtle neck and a pair of skinny jeans. She was running a comb through her hair when she saw Peridot. "Make yourself at home, I guess. What do you keep coming over here for?"

"It's only been, like, two times." she defended. Lapis gave her a scowl. "Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly! Make sure you're okay during the blackout and stuff."

Lapis sighed as she tossed the comb on the coffee table and leaned over the back of the leather chair. "I was doing fine before you woke me up."

Sleeping in the middle of the day again? Peridot wondered. "Why were you sleeping?" she dared to ask.

"Why do you need to know?" Lapis countered.

"I don't need to know, I'm just wondering." Peridot said as innocently as she could. Lapis must have realized she was being unnecessarily confrontational because her expression softened.

"I was up all night doing stuff." she said as she propped her chin on her elbow. "I had a lot to do between my chores and homework. I didn't go to bed 'til probably three in the morning."

That seemed like a reasonable answer, but it still struck Peridot as odd. When she was here before the house looked spotless, how bad could it have possibly gotten between then and last night? She decided not to press that particular subject.

"What school do you go to, anyway? I haven't seen you in any of my classes."

Lapis pushed herself away from the chair and walked away. Peridot thought she wasn't going to answer when she heard her call out from somewhere. Peridot got up and followed her voice into the kitchen.

"I don't go to public school." Lapis said as she pulled a box of cereal from a cupboard. "I just do some work here and my dad looks it over."

"You mean like independent study?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, something like that." Lapis reached into the box and ate a few pieces of cereal. Then she held the box out to Peridot. "Want some?"

Peridot hesitated a moment. She couldn't ignore her hunger anymore, even though she still really wanted a grilled cheese. A small snack wouldn't hurt, she reasoned. She grabbed a fist full of cereal and shoved it all in her mouth at once, some of it missing her mouth and falling on the floor. Lapis laughed at her sloppiness.

"Calm down! You're like a dog."

"I'm hungry, okay? I haven't eaten in over a day." Peridot said as she reached for more.

"Seriously?" Lapis asked. "Was it because of the thunder?"

Peridot choked on the cereal and stared at Lapis. How could she have possible guessed that so easily? "What... makes you ask that?"

"You acted weird when you were here before and there was thunder. I figured you don't like it." Lapis shrugged. Peridot's cheeks flared up and she frowned. Was it really that obvious?

"N-No! That's not it at all! Why would I be afraid of a little thunder?! It's just thunder! There's nothing to be afraid of! I'll have you know that-"

"Okay, okay! I believe you!" Lapis laughed. "Jeez, you're like a little gremlin."

"What?!" Peridot yelled and stomped her foot. She was about to go on a rant when she heard what sounded like a car pulling into the driveway. She knew Lapis heard it too because she froze and visibly tensed, her eyes wide.

"Shit!" Lapis shouted before Peridot could say anything. She hastily threw the cereal box onto the counter, which made it fall over and sent cereal flying all over the floor. Peridot jumped back in alarm.

"Wha-" She was cut off by Lapis's hand covering her mouth. Peridot felt herself being dragged backwards by Lapis, who was surprisingly strong. It was so sudden that she panicked and instinctively fought against it. She stumbled and ground a lot of the cereal onto the tile with her feet. Even with her struggling, Lapis managed to pull her toward a back door.

"You need to leave!" she hissed into Peridot's ear.

"What's going on?" Peridot demanded.

"Just get out of here!" With that, Lapis opened the door and shoved Peridot out so hard she fell forward on her hands and knees. She turned back just in time to see Lapis close and lock the door. Peridot sat there for a moment in a daze.

What the hell just happened? Why did Lapis freak out like that? One minute things were fine between them and the next Lapis was literally pushing her out of the house! What was the big deal with the car? A million questions swam in her head as she adjusted her glasses and stood up. She felt a dampness beneath her feet and she realized her shoes were still by the front door.

She hadn't had a chance to grab them. And with the way Lapis had reacted, she wasn't sure if she should go back for them. But she couldn't just leave them there! She didn't know what was going on, but she supposed as long as she stayed out of sight it would be fine.

She crouched down to avoid being seen through any windows and ran to the front of the house. She noticed a truck in the driveway, but no one seemed to be in or near it. She continued to the side of the porch where she climbed over the railing as quietly as she could to avoid being seen through the front windows. She lost her footing and yelped as she caught herself before she fell flat on her face. She paused to listen in case anyone heard her, then crawled over to her boots.

As she got closer to the door, she could hear muffled yelling from inside. It was Lapis and a deeper man's voice. Lapis's dad maybe? She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, so she pressed her ear against the wall to hear.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"It was just an accident!"

"Just an accident? Look at all this! There's cereal everywhere and it looks like you walked all over it! You're telling me you 'accidentally' stepped directly on it and didn't notice?"

"No, that's not-"

There was a bang so loud it made Peridot jump and her stomach drop.

"You're lying, I can tell! You're going to get on your hands and knees and pick up every single piece! And if I see even a crumb on this floor you'll be in even more trouble!"

Peridot heard stomping and a door slam. then it was deathly quiet. She listened for just a minute longer but there was no other noise. She furrowed her brow in concern and wondered if she could try to peek inside and see what had happened. She thought it might be too risky. It didn't seem like there was anything else for her to do but leave.

She grabbed her shoes then quickly made her way back to her own house. Once inside, she slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. With everything so quiet she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

She wasn't even sure what she was so panicked about. What she heard didn't seem that bad but with the way Lapis had acted, hearing her dad yell like that, and that bang... it was unsettling.

The power suddenly came back on and the hallway lights flickered to life. It drew Peridot's eyes upward and she stared at the light fixture as she wondered just what the hell was going on between Lapis and her dad.


	3. Chapter 3

Peridot groaned and continued tapping the touch pad of her laptop. She laid on her stomach with her head propped up on a pillow as she scrolled through a conspiracy theory blog about her hometown. Her eyes drooped as she read through a ridiculous post about "whispering stairs" near the movie theater. None of the evidence made sense and it really wasn't all that interesting.

Finally she tore her eyes away and buried her face in her pillow. She had difficulty sleeping, tossing and turning restlessly throughout the night. Eventually she gave up trying to get any sleep and resigned herself to doing literally anything online to distract herself.

It was her nerves that were keeping her up. She couldn't stop worrying about Lapis. She was trying not to think about it too much, but her brain kept jumping to a bunch of conclusions about what could be going on over there right now. She wished she could go over there and check on Lapis, but she couldn't! It was driving her crazy and she felt like tearing her own hair out over it!

She huffed in irritation and turned her head toward her window. Being near-sighted, everything was all blurry without her glasses, but that didn't stop her from squinting her eyes to see whatever she could of Lapis's house. Everything looked the same. Meaning lights were still on in the house even though it was who knows how late. It was starting to make sense why Lapis had such a weird sleeping schedule.

Peridot let her eyes slide shut and ran through her head everything that happened between her and Lapis. She imagined Lapis laughing and smiling, then her face suddenly contorting in distress. She remembered the way Lapis froze like a deer caught in headlights before she completely panicked. She could feel Lapis's hands pulling her backwards to push her out the door no matter how much she struggled. The way Lapis's dad had yelled at her echoed loudly in Peridot's ears as if she was hearing it all over again.

She squirmed uncomfortably at the sensations and opened her eyes to be greeted with sunlight streaming through her window. At first she was confused and didn't know what to think of the unexpected light until she realized she must have fallen asleep and it was morning now.

Her body felt heavy, but she managed to push herself up and look at her clock. Normally seeing how late it was would have thrown her into a panic, but she found herself too tired to care. She felt too exhausted to even think about school. Instead she turned away and let her head fall back to her pillow. Her eyes fluttered closed with full intentions to go back to sleep, but she forced them open when she happened to catch something.

She sat up again and grabbed her glasses so she could get a better look outside her window. She stared for a moment at the empty space in the driveway at Lapis's house and her heart sped up when she realized what that meant. Lapis's dad was gone and she could finally go over there!

Peridot jumped out of bed and scrambled to put on her shoes. She was so excited she didn't bother with getting dressed or even brushing her hair, she just stumbled her way out of her house as fast as possible and ran across the two yards to Lapis's house. Rationality didn't really click with her until she was seconds away from pounding on the front door.

She didn't even have a plan of what she would say to Lapis. Of course she wanted to ask a million questions, but what specifically? Would Lapis even answer them? How did she know for sure if it was even safe to be here?

She had to be discrete, she decided. She tried to peek through the living room window but it was hard to see anything past the curtains. She knocked quietly on the door and pressed her ear against it, but she didn't hear any foot steps. She tried the doorknob and was surprised when it actually opened. It seemed no one had locked it.

She left her shoes outside and walked into the dark house, shutting the door softly behind her. She strained her ears for any sort of noise but it was completely quiet.

"Lapis?" she whisper yelled. She was only met with silence. It occurred to Peridot that it was a little strange she was just walking into someone's house, but she needed to know Lapis was okay. She tiptoed past the living room and into the hallway where she saw three doors. She took her chance with the one closest to her on the right and opened it just a crack. All she saw was darkness, so she opened it wider and stuck her head inside.

There was only a bit of light coming through the tightly drawn curtains to illuminate the dark room, but she was able to make out blue walls with tons of paintings of aquatic life hanging on them. Her eyes scanned through the room until they landed on a bed with a sleeping form on it. There was so much blue everywhere that it definitely felt like Lapis's room. Peridot stepped into the room and made her way to Lapis's bed.

She shifted from foot to foot nervously, not sure if she should wake Lapis up. Her last couple of experiences with disturbing her were not pleasant, and this time it would be on purpose. She couldn't imagine Lapis being that mad at her, but there was still some fear. She bit her lip and crouched next to the bed, peeking over at Lapis who seemed to be turned away from Peridot. She nervously lifted her finger and poked Lapis's back.

"Hey." she whispered softly. Nothing happened so she tried poking a little harder and raising her voice. "Lapis. Lapisssss. Lapis!"

Lapis suddenly jerked up and reflexively slapped at Peridot, making Peridot yelp and jump back.

"Wha-?!" Lapis slurred as she fumbled to turn on the lamp by her bed. "What the...? Peridot? Why are you here? And what are you doing in my room?"

Lapis didn't sound too happy, as Peridot predicted. "Please don't be mad!" Peridot said hurriedly. "I know it seems a little weird since you were sleeping and all, but I came over to see if you were okay!"

"Huh?" Lapis squinted at her. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

Peridot stared at her for a minute in confusion. Lapis must have known what she was talking about, Peridot knew she didn't imagine it. And it's not like that kind of thing was normal. Unless that was normal for Lapis, which was a whole new realization for Peridot that she did not like. "Um," she started slowly. "I'm talking about what happened yesterday. With your dad and stuff? When you pushed me out the back door and then your dad was yelling and there was that loud noise-"

"Wait, you heard all that?" Lapis asked incredulously. She threw the blanket off herself and sat up straighter. "How did you hear that? I told you to leave! Were you spying on me?!"

Peridot put her hands up defensively. This was a little less expected. She knew she had to choose her words carefully. "No! I- I wouldn't say I was spying on you! I was just listening to what was going on, and-"

"That's exactly what spying is, Peridot!" Lapis yelled as she stood up. "I can't believe you! Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had been caught? Do you even care?!"

Peridot took a cautious step back. She had no idea Lapis would react to her like this! "O-Of course I-" she stammered.

"No, you don't! If you cared you would have listened to me!" Lapis grabbed a fistful of her hair in aggravation. "Ugh, I should have never let you come inside! And now you're breaking into my house?"

"I was worried about you!" Peridot blurted. She knew it was a weak excuse for breaking and entering, but it was the truth! She didn't understand why Lapis wouldn't listen to her and understand that she wasn't trying to be malicious.

"So, what? You suddenly care about me so much? Someone you've known for only a few days?"

"Yes!" Peridot answered honestly. Of course Peridot would care about someone who seemed to be in some sort of bad situation! And even if it was a little strange, Peridot would like to think of Lapis as a friend. Not a very close one admittedly, but a friend of sorts nonetheless.

Lapis was silent a moment and glared at her. "If you really care about me you'll get out of my house and never come back." she said in a low voice. "I don't want to see you over here again."

Peridot's heart dropped all the way to her feet. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, to explain herself and make Lapis understand, but she couldn't form any words. She searched Lapis's eyes to see if she was serious and she could tell that she was. Peridot swallowed around the lump in her throat and tore her eyes away.

"I-If that's what you want then fine!" she choked out. She spun on her heel and stomped away, though there wasn't much force to it. After haphazardly shoving her feet into her shoes, she hugged herself as she trudged her way back to her own house. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't know what else to do if Lapis wouldn't listen.

She stopped and looked back at Lapis's house. Peridot watched it, half hoping Lapis would come running out and call for her to come back. Maybe Lapis would realize she was being unfair and change her mind.

But she didn't. Everything stayed still until it started raining and forced Peridot to abandon that small hope and go home.

.

Sprawled out on the couch, Peridot stared blankly at the TV playing some sort of cartoon that she couldn't care less about. Hours had passed since she left Lapis's house and she couldn't get her mind off everything. She felt like she was in the exact same position she was last night, except now she felt worse. She almost wished she had gone back to sleep this morning and never checked on Lapis.

Why should she care about her so much if Lapis was just going to push her away like that? She barely even knew Lapis, there was no reason for her to care anyway! She should be happy that Lapis didn't want her around anymore, now she wouldn't have to worry about her at all!

At least that was what Peridot was trying to tell herself so she could feel better. In reality, she was so upset her chest felt tight. She couldn't stop wondering if she had failed Lapis, and that maybe this whole thing was her fault. If she had never gone over there then Lapis wouldn't have panicked and made that mess on accident and she wouldn't have gotten in trouble with her dad.

But there was no way Peridot could have known that, a small voice reminded her. And she was not responsible for the way Lapis's dad reacted.

This whole situation was so frustrating!

She grabbed a pillow and covered her face with it, hoping it would somehow help to block out the entire world. Her phone vibrated on the coffee table and she pressed the pillow down harder on her face. That was one of the things she wished she could block out. Her phone had been going off all day but she wasn't in the mood to answer it or read any texts. Whoever it was would have to wait until she felt like dealing with life again.

"Still lazing around, I see?"

She removed the pillow at the sound of the voice. Peridot looked up to see her mother staring at her from the end of the couch with her hand on her hip. She had forgotten that her mom had the day off and had been home all day. Peridot was hoping that since her mom spent most of her time holed up in her office she could play off the fact that she had skipped school. Apparently her mom had noticed.

"I don't feel good." Peridot said as she hugged the pillow to her chest. That wasn't a complete lie, because she did feel like garbage, but it had nothing to do with an illness. Her mom's expression softened just the slightest at that and she made her way around the couch to press her hand to Peridot's forehead. Her face scrunched up when she didn't feel any notable fever, but she must have believed Peridot regardless.

"I'll tell Pearl to pick up something for you from the store and bring it over." her mother promised before she left the room. Peridot always found it funny, and a little confusing, that her mom's assistant had the same name as her friend. Though she wasn't all too concerned with it at the moment. She was mostly just relieved that she was able to avoid any trouble.

She curled up into the couch and drowned out the noise from the TV. She laid like that for a few minutes before the doorbell rang. Either Pearl was getting way faster at running errands for her mom or Peridot must not have realized how much time had passed, she thought as she sat up. She made her way to the front door and opened it to her entirely unexpected friends.

"Hey Peri!" Amethyst shouted in greeting. Jasper and Friend-Pearl stood behind her acting like this wasn't completely weird and confusing to Peridot. She stared for a moment trying to process why they were all standing there.

"I brought lemonade!" Amethyst shouted again as she held up a bag—yes, an actual plastic bag—full of lemonade.

"Huh?" was all Peridot could say in response. Amethyst just laughed and pushed past her to go into the house. Pearl followed after her, giving Peridot a polite, but slightly apologetic smile as she went by. "W-Wait, what are you guys-"

"We all tried calling and texting you!" Jasper explained as she stepped in herself. "I asked if we could come over and you never said no."

"But... I didn't say yes either!" Peridot cried as she quickly shut the door and chased after her friends that all went to the living room. She was completely unprepared for them to be here! She doubted her mom would care as long as they all stayed out of her way, but Peridot was in the middle of wallowing! How was she supposed to handle all her friends being here?

She watched with dread as they all began to make themselves comfortable. Pearl crossed her legs neatly on one end of the couch while Jasper flopped on the other end. Amethyst sat on the coffee table, something her mom hated people doing.

"Dang, Dottie, still in your pajamas? You been sleeping all day or something?" Amethyst teased.

"What the heck are you guys doing here?!" Peridot shrieked, ignoring Amethyst's question.

"Just chillin'." Jasper said, which only served to infuriate Peridot. Pearl interjected before there was any sort of argument.

"We actually came to give you the school work you missed and check up on you. I had been trying to text you all weekend about the English project you and I need to get working on, but you never answered. We got worried when we didn't see you at school."

"Wait, what project?" Peridot asked. She shot a glare to Amethyst as she slurped loudly from her lemonade bag. "Don't spill that!"

"The project I asked you about before? You said you were fine with doing most of the research for it." Pearl said.

Peridot thought back to the question Pearl asked her days ago during the storm and realized that must have been what she asked about. Peridot didn't even know what the subject for the project was, let alone that she was supposed to be doing a bunch of research for it! She was torn from her thoughts by Jasper now drinking from the bag and actually spilling a little on the couch.

"I can't deal with you guys right now!" she yelled as she threw her hands in the air. Peridot turned and stomped down the hall to her bedroom, slamming the door and throwing herself onto her bed. She pulled the blanket over her head and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, hoping they would all take the hint and leave.

Apparently they didn't, because she heard her bedroom door open a few minutes later.

"Heyyy, Peridot." she heard Jasper call in a dumb voice. "You doing okay, buddy? You're being more pissy than usual."

"You're still here?" Peridot said from under her blankets.

"Yep, and I'm not leaving til you tell me what your problem is." Jasper said as she came closer to the bed. Peridot refused to budge. "Don't make me sit on you."

Peridot made a small noise in the back of her throat and burst from her blanket cocoon in case she needed to defend herself. But when she looked at Jasper it seemed like she genuinely wanted to know what was going on. She didn't know Jasper did it, but she could read Peridot like a book. They had been best friends for years, it only made sense that she would be concerned.

If only Lapis could see at least a little bit of that in Peridot.

She groaned at the thought of Lapis again and buried her face in her hands.

"Jeez, dude, what's up?" Jasper asked.

"This!" Peridot exclaimed. "You're all concerned and you care about me and I don't know how to do that!"

"...Huh?

Peridot huffed in irritation at Jasper's confusion. But she realized that what she said didn't make very much sense. She took a breath to collect her thoughts and figure out how to say them in a more comrehensive way.

"There's someone I know who I'm worried about and I want to help her, but she doesn't seem to understand that! She thinks I'm just tryng to make things more difficult for her. I tried to tell her she's wrong but she pretty much ignored me and then kicked me out!" Peridot ranted.

"Well you are pretty good at getting in someone's way."

"I'm serious, Jasper! This is a real problem and I have no idea what to do about it." Peridot insisted. Jasper rolled her eyes at Peridot's whining.

"Well it can't be that serious. I mean, no one's gonna die, right?"

"I... I don't think so." Peridot said. She saw the way Jasper's face twisted in confusion at her hesitation. She sighed and started at the beginning, explaining everything about Lapis and what she had heard. Jasper seemed a bit surprised by the end of it.

"Damn... This does seem pretty serious."

"I know." Peridot groaned as she flopped back onto her pillows. "I just wanna help her."

"Well, you're not gonna do that by being all pushy." Jasper said. "I say give this girl some time to cool down and try again later. Apologize and make sure she knows that you're just trying to help. But help her in a way that's best for her, not you."

This was weirdly good advice Jasper was giving her. Peridot furrowed her brow at it. Jasper was usually pretty brutal in her approach to solving issues, so hearing her say this was a bit ironic. But no matter how weird it was, this was actually a fairly sensible solution.

"How long should I wait?" Peridot asked.

"I dunno, few days? I'd say you should give some time for yourself to figure out what to do and say. And whenever you figure out how to do that, it's probably been enough time."

"Wow... Okay." Peridot said looking at Jasper. "Thanks. I think I can do that."

"Good! Now, c'mon, I didn't come all the way here just to hear you bitch and moan. We're gonna watch a movie!" Jasper said standing up and pulling on Peridot's arms to get her up.

Peridot chuckled and resisted a little bit, but if she was going to be honest, she did feel a lot better. The weight she had on her chest before was suddenly lifted and she didn't feel like wallowing anymore. She still thought it was rude for everyone to show up unannounced, but she supposed it was worth it.

She felt like she could do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if the ending seems rushed, i was having a hard time :))


End file.
